The Leftover Skittles

I used to think life was fair. My parents tried to make everything equal for my brothers and me. We always had the same number of red Skittles, green Skittles, and yellow Skittles. At Christmas time, my mom made certain she spent the same amount on each of us kids. My brother's birthdays fall close to Christmas, but you wouldn't know it from the gifts they received. My parents bought the same amount of gifts for December and January birthdays as they did for my July birthday. None of us ever felt neglected. Dad and Mom showed us by their actions that we were loved equally.  Life was fair.

Not anymore. Once I left the comfort of my parent's home, I began to learn that life doesn't treat everyone equally. Life doesn't give everyone the same number of Skittles. Instead, it throws handfuls of red Skittles to one person and then chucks one or two leftover yellow ones to someone else. I first learned this lesson two weeks before my husband and I married. A young driver veered into my lane of traffic and totaled my car. My "life is fair" mind assumed she would get a ticket, pay for the damages, and learn her lesson. None of these things happened.

Now, six years later, I'm learning the lesson again. Life isn't fair. In fact, it pretty much stinks sometimes. But maybe it's better that way. Because if life were fair, Jesus never would have died on a cross. He didn't do anything wrong. He didn't deserve to die. We did. But, God chose then and there to make life unfair. It was unfair that my baby died, yes, but it was also unfair that Jesus died. I guess if I'm going to take the handful of red Skittles, I have to take the leftover yellow ones too.